Precious
by Ravyn Skye
Summary: Gift for Koori *hearts* POST-CANON Rin is back with Sesshoumaru, and she wants to "practice". Sesshoumaru, as usual, obliges... But is she really JUST an obligation?


**Chapter 16: Precious**

Disclaimer: I don't own Rin or Sess or the manga Inuyasha… My intials aren't even RT!

Author: Ravynskye

Title: Precious

Words:3,636

Theme: 14 –NEW

A/N: XX year old Rin, you chose it, though this IS post-canon and I think of her as just shy of traditional Japanese marrying age of her era. (Hence why there is no sex yet.)

殺生丸とりん殺生丸とりん殺生丸とりん殺生丸とりん殺生丸とりん殺生丸とりん

This Sesshomaru himself would kill those that would dare say it aloud, and strip him of what little of his pride remains, though the harrowing experience of seeing her dead in my single armed embrace leaves little doubt to all who bore witness to my breakdown, including myself.

I had already fallen in love with her, even when she was but a child... Though she is no longer the child whose head reached only my knee, and no longer just a little girl. Years have slipped through my fingers like sand, bringing a new layer, new interactions and new wants and needs along with budding curves.

I was and am and will likely always be, in love with she who will always be to me, my little girl. No matter how she ages, a part of my heart will always see my eternal child, my precious little girl, my adoring and adorable follower… My Rin.

The truth of those words, when I'd finally admitted them within my own mind was like a splash of ice cold water in the face, annoying, and yet… oddly refreshing.

My heart was woken from its eternal slumber, even if in a most unpleasant way.

I _felt_ for the first time in centuries. Yes, I _felt _emotions, and they were: _sadness and fear._

Indeed, my introduction to the world of _emotions _was not a pleasant one.

Sadness and fear; trial by fire.

This Sesshomaru's Lord Father always did know how to make a first impression.

Would I allow the fact that it was _unpleasant_ to _feel_ that first time to cast me back into self-imposed emotional exile, placing myself beyond the reach of my girl, and the girl beyond mine once again?

Would I allow those first sweet and gentle touches – my hand cradling her cheek and my claws swiping through her hair as I reassured both Rin and myself that she was alive and whole once more to become the _only_ gentle touches Rin had ever felt from my hands?

No.

Once a man has tasted fine sake, the blandness of water will no longer suffice. Once I finally allowed myself to offer comfort through physical contact, and touched Rin, her scent and sound could no longer sustain me. Such as it was with the feeling of my sword calloused palm on her soft skin, those self-imposed restrictions on contact with the girl were no longer possible. I longed for _more_, as did she, as evidenced by her… enthusiasm then; shown in the way she so quickly accepted and cradled my large hand, nuzzled into my rough palm and smiled up at me with soft, too wise to be a child's eyes, and even more so now that a handful of years have passed and the two of us have been engaging in certain…_activities_.

To the outside world little about me has appeared to change, I am still as cold and aloof and _violent_ as ever to the untrained eye. I still walk with arrogance, I still kill when the fancy strikes me, and I still hold myself above all others… all others but _one._

Only a dark headed young girl with a bright smile knows who and how I really am. She holds my heart and my secrets in her tiny hands, with no shame or reservation. She alone nurtures and nourishes the part of myself that is no longer free to choose to feel nothing.

I am her captive.

She holds me in a gilded prison of laughter, light, and unconditional love; but, I am her captive just the same. Or perhaps, I am merely _captivated_ with her? It matters not… the end result is the same. My heart offers no choice where she is concerned… I am no longer free not to love her, and all her human imperfections only endear her to me all the more.

I would not choose freedom, were it presented to me; just as she refused to choose humans, when they were presented to her. I am a knowing and willing slave to her hold over me. Were I not, this girl would be dead by my own claws.

Instead, it is those who would seek to free me from her, or her from me, who die by my sword or at the tips of my poison claws.

There have been only a few who were foolish enough to attempt to separate us, now that the old miko has passed on, and we are reunited once again; the human village is far from where we are. Those fools now reside in hell, where no doubt, this Sesshomaru's Chichi-ue is interrogating them on the status of his first born son and the little _human_ girl he caught a glimpse of when his sword was returned to him in the netherworld.

Indeed, I have killed, and will continue to kill, in her name – and she does, and will continue to, forgive me everything.

Now that the dusk approaches I can feel anticipation coil itself in my gut, as I begin to scent her excitement and impatience for the cloak of darkness to offer the privacy required for our impending intimacy. I already know, Rin will come to me this night, as she does most nights, now. I can smell it.

This girl will grow to be my wife, in only two short years, and as such these years will be spent in training and preparing both her and me to become mate to one another.

This Sesshomaru knows enough to know he is not good with such things… females and their emotions and other such vague concepts are not his forte.

Physical intimate acts are accompanied by emotional bonds in the human world, and this Sesshomaru must learn to understand that, if he seeks to keep his mate healthy and happy.

She will learn to claim pleasure and I will learn to offer it, and vice versa. More than simple physical release, this Sesshomaru must seek to understand and offer… comfort… reassurance… as well as things intangible that he has yet to fully understand. It is a tall order, perhaps impossible, but I do not intend to fail Rin, ever again – although, _when _I do, and it is only a matter of time before this Sesshomaru fails her in that regard in some capacity, I have faith and trust enough, that she will run true to form, and forgive my sin against her, no matter the severity of my transgression.

Rin is intelligent enough not to have too high of an expectation of this Sesshomaru, in that department…

At first she was hesitant, the human village imposing their mores on her, but upon having the reassurance of my intentions to court her fully, and upon learning that the day she first officially enters womanhood, her mogi ceremony, Rin will be taken into the bedchambers of this Sesshomaru and he will make both a woman and a _wife _of her, all hesitation vanished; and was replaced with an enthusiasm I have yet to see mirrored in a youkai female of any species.

For now, I content myself with her much smaller figure crawling toward me as the stars begin to show themselves under a twilit sky, and she makes her way onto my lap.

'Practice' as she calls it, 'for when we're married.' She fools no one with this idea of 'practice'… but I allow it all the same. Pleasure is her true objective and as usual I will oblige her.

No… that is not the entire truth.

I, the Lord of the West, am under no _obligation_ to _any_ creature. I already gave her life – what further debt could I be paying? That one such as I would feel responsible for her, simply because I gave her back her life? No, one such as I would logically understand that I had already given her more than was owed for a few scraps of food that were not requested. To assume that I cared for her out of some sense of _further obligation_ is simply logically unsound.

I do not merely _oblige_ her; I return her desire – whole heartedly.

The idea that she is or was ever _unwanted_, in any sense of the word, is a ridiculous notion at best. Disaffected demeanor aside, did I not _desire_ her then there would be nothing she could do to force herself upon me. As if a pure blooded taiyoukai could not outwit or out run a small human female. Preposterous.

That one such as I could be _made to feel guilty _is another assumption of my motivations in keeping her that this Sesshomaru has heard. Obviously such conjecture is spewed only by ignorant fools, who obviously know nothing of the disposition of this Sesshomaru. This inane concept of my feeling _guilt_ or any sort of _responsibility _towards a _mortal _is one that all who are familiar with this Sesshomaru would be swift to dismiss.

Indeed, the idle mutterings of such should be written off as pure folly; such is completely ludicrous and demonstrates a total misunderstanding of this Sesshomaru's value system.

This Sesshomaru? Feel _responsible _for the well being of a mortal, simply because he returned her from death? Feel _guilty_ for not returning a female's affections? Absurd.

Be those affections sexual or romantic in nature, or merely a small child's hero worship – that one such as I might feel _guilt_ and therefore feign to return those affections, when in fact I did not? Ridiculous.

This Sesshomaru allowed her to follow, saved her from danger, withstood purification of monks, Mt. Hakurei's barrier, entered the very pits of hell with what he believed to be no chance to escape, in effect giving up his own life in the pursuit of hers, discarded his sword and the pursuit of power, pursued Naraku and eventually entered his body, risking being absorbed, allowed her the chance to be with humans but also the choice to return, offered the girl a choice for _**one reason**_…

Yes, even my only remaining connection to my late father and the symbol of my power over death was not worth anything, if it could not save my beloved.

I was willing to give up his quest for power completely… If only Rin would wake, and return to her smile light and laughter to my side.

_**All this, for one reason, and one reason alone…**_

_**Rin is precious to me. **_

Even my own mother said it… Rin is my "beloved".

There is but _one_ reason and _one_ reason _only_ that Rin is not only _alive, _but also holds a place in _my life_; one _single_ reason why Rin was and always will be welcomed in the presence of this Sesshomaru: _**I want her there.**_

I want her in my life, and I want her _now… _

She crawls toward me on hand and knee, and I reach out for her, begging her come closer. Upon her arrival to my side, I tip her small face upwards and meet it with own. Her impossibly tiny jaw line is cradled in my large hand and my thumb sweeps along her cheek as our lips meet and press and move against each other's. _Soft_ is the only word that comes to mind in this moment. I pull back my lips from hers for only a moment to instruct her softly, "Open up for me, little one."

My Rin obeys with greedy and instant compliance as her small tongue shyly brushes against my own, before yielding and allowing the tip of my tongue to dance and play within her mouth. Her taste is delicious and delicate and floral and sweet, and my chest rumbles with soul deep approval. She tastes like heaven. Our kiss cannot be maintained though, as she smiles against my lips, so large that I am forced to pull back.

"Ummm, Rin likes that Sesshomaru-sama," she whispers, all the while blushing and averting her eyes. She does not do so in shame, for my little girl knows nothing of that particular feeling when in my presence, not anymore. The human values were easily erased from her mind, once she decided that she wished to belong to a youkai. No, it is not shame that causes her to look away, but submission to her alpha male.

My claws weave themselves into the inky perfection of her ebony silk strands as I guide her face toward mine, coaxing her up from her hands and knees, and helping her to straddle my outstretched legs as I sit against the base of a large tree. I wrap my arms around her and hold her close, breathing her in as she cuddles up close and plants a small kiss on my adam's apple, bumping the underside of my chin with her nose as a mesuinuyoukai would do.

She is demanding my intimate attentions, and I am all too happy to give them.

"_Ggggood gggirrrl, Rrrinnn,"_ I growl softly in her ear, rewarding her inu behaviors and she sighs in contentment.

I cup the back of her head, tug her hair slightly and cup her face once more with my other hand. I rotate my wrist slightly, and her cheek follows, resting in my large palm – leaving the other side of her throat bare and vulnerable. The hand in her hair brushes through the strands completely and once free I bring it back up to rest on her collar bone while one of my long fingers reaches out; a single claw traces around the shell of her tiny rounded ear, then drags down the side of her neck, and my girl shivers and closes her eyes in response.

I lean in close to whisper sensually into the ever darkening night, "Would you yield your throat to me, sweet one? Would my Rin show her submission to her mate?" No, she is not youkai, but as I must learn to deal with her… _human things, _emotions and such, she must learn to cater to my instincts. It is a tradeoff, but one we both make without resentments.

Rin nods and deliberately tilts her head back, and her sweet sigh is music to my ears as she surrenders herself entirely to my care, and places her small mortal life in the hands of this taiyoukai… and I am humbled by her gesture.

Her implicit trust in me, her unconditional love for me, her forgiveness for past failures, my near abandonment and all other transgressions… once again, Rin humbles me with her patience and understanding.

Rin brings me to my preverbal (and often to my literal) knees, when she allows me to worship at the alter of her innocent devotion to and unconditional love for this mighty and terrible lord of youkai.

I lean in even closer and trace the shell of her rounded ear with the tip of my tongue, blow softly across it, delighting in the way the whole of her small body shivers in my lap, and her chest arches forward, begging for my touch… But not yet. Sacred rituals are best when they are performed with slow, intimate attention to detail.

My hand slides to the small of her back and finally to her tiny rounded bottom and I cradle and knead the firm, fleshy cheeks through the thin silk of her nemaki; Rin wriggles and squirms, attempting to force my fingers to move deeper along the separation of her cheeks and to brush against her small core.

Not yet.

I wet my lips with a flick of tongue and place a firm kiss just below her earlobe, before letting my fangs graze lightly down the column of her throat, nuzzling down in the crook of her neck, and breathing in her young, sweet scent, letting it fill my lungs and soften my thoughts; Rin intoxicates me.

Her small hands with still somewhat chubby fingers have until now been resting lightly on my shoulders and gripping at my kimono, but now she moves her arms to wrap around and hug my head to her and she pets the top of my head; burries those fingers into my hair, tugs and pulls in a way that sends shivers down my spine and electric jolts directly to my member. "Rin!" I pant, shivering against her small body, tugging her closer until there is no space between us, and moan softly into her neck. She knows exactly what she's doing to me, and I retaliate by nipping and sucking her salty skin and biting her earlobe with gentle pressure.

My hand leaves her bottom for a moment and she whines in her throat, annoyed I am no longer touching there, kneading and squeezing and rubbing her tiny bottom. Before she can form the words to protest Rin realizes I have released the tie of her thin obi, at the small of her back, and my hand is already back where she wants it, cupping and massaging her behind, though now I've moved beneath her hem and it is skin on skin. I can feel as I creep lower, she's already wet for me. So responsive and so innocently unashamed, she pushes back into my hand and the still almost completely smooth lips of her virgin sex call to my fingers. But I wait.

The material of her sleeping garment goes slack enough to allow me to use my teeth to pull it off of her shoulder, and my nose grazes her collarbone and follows over her smooth round shoulder as Rin assists in her own undressing; pulling her arm out of her sleeve.

I nibble and lick my way back to her small thin throat, and the hand that was holding the side of her face slides down and slips the silk off of her other shoulder, leaving her top half bare. My hand on her small buttocks clenches slightly at the sight of her budding breasts, upward tilting round peaks with taught nipples. I feel myself begin to harden beneath my hakama as bend down and pull her one stiff peak into my mouth and nibble lightly, before suckling like a pup. Rin arches and moans, still cradling my head and pulling my face to her breast, willing me to take more into my mouth. Instead, I lick my way across the wide valley between them and pay equal homage to the other, before I pull back to gaze upon her beauty once more.

I am mildly disturbed though, when Rin crosses her arms in front of herself. She is usually more than eager to display her body before me, and I… don't understand her hesitation? However… It is not my right to question it, nor will I attempt to coax or manipulate her into doing as I would wish and not as she pleases.

"Rin?" I venture, if she does not wish to be bare before my gaze I will not force her to be, "Would you like to redress?"

My little girl looks comical as melodramatic horror paints itself across her features, "No!" Her cheeks go crimson, realizing how loud she has been in the stillness of the forest night, and she quiets down before looking away, and adding in a mumbled whisper, "Rin _likes_ Sesshomaru-sama to look… Rin is just cold."

Suddenly I understand that it must be embarrassment at her 'weakness,' at not being impervious to the elements as I am, that has caused the shift in mood for her, and, wishing to recapture what we were sharing before her malicious self-doubt, I lean in and brush my lips against the softness of her cheek.

"Then…" I purr; my tone husky with my own growing desire, "Allow me to warm you." I pull the tie of my hakama loose, tug at the yards and yards of extra fabric from my kimono from around my slim waist, pulling it out from the waist of my hakama, and opening the fabric to reveal my bare chest.

I pull my girl close, and we are bare chest to bare chest, and I wrap my kimono around the two of us, slithering mokomoko so my fur is now holding both her and the fabric in place, leaving both my hands free. I pull my arms out of my voluminous sleeves and into our cloth cocoon, and remove her nemaki completely, leaving her totally bare and pressed against me.

If I can no longer see her, then I wish to feel her small naked body pressed tightly against the skin of my torso; her breasts against me, her nipples hard to the skin just above my abdominals as she curls down and snuggles into my body.

I straighten my legs and her own short legs spread to straddle mine, her knees at my hips. I can feel her pressed, through the silk of my hakama, against my semi-turgid member. Rin must feel me press against her as well, for she begins to settle more deeply, wriggling and squirming against me, bringing me to full hardness. Rin gets some sort of special satisfaction from… _teasing_ me.

"Rrrriiin," I growl out softly; she knows this is my warning to her. If she desires nothing more to come of tonight's snuggling – if she does not wish to give me more than the simple pleasure of caressing and holding and pleasing her - then she will cease her movements. If, however, she desires to pleasure me as well and more intimate activities, she will begin to move against me in earnest.

The choice is hers, as it always is.

As predicted, Rin decides that tonight she will allow me to pleasure her more fully, and more than that, she seeks to bring my own release, as evidenced by her small hands sneaking down to stroke me over my silks. "Rin wants to practice being Sesshomaru-sama's wife tonight," she whispers, giving me silly-sounding words but words that cannot be misinterpreted.

Rin snuggles her small head into my chest and she kisses my pectoral muscle, the highest point on my body she can reach unassisted, in this position. Sometimes it is burdensome to be so much taller than she, or any human… I will tower over her always, even when she reaches her full adult height, if she has not done so already.

In response I raise my hips and together we work to lower my hakama, my bare hindquarters now sitting on the inside of my kimono. I move her legs a safe distance from my claws, before I slice my fundoshi away, thankful that the demon silk repairs itself after each night I do this; otherwise it would become quite burdensome to keep so many undergarments on hand…

I keep her a slight distance from me, and the material of my kimono tents around us, shielding our bodies as I place my clawed hand beneath her bottom and my non-clawed hand comes to delicately fondle the hairless folds of her sex at their apex. Her miniscule pleasure bud lays hidden beneath at first, but at my soft - gentle yet relentless - coaxing it begins to peak from her folds as I stimulate her into readiness to ride me. Though penetration is a ways off, she enjoys very much grinding herself down on my hard shaft and slipping my tip over her pink pleasure bud.

Moisture begins to coat her and I dip my fingertip more deeply into her seam, gathering her wetness, and spreading it from her opening to her pleasure nub, slickening my strokes. A moment later I take to teasing her opening with gentle pressure, and just as the tip of my digit sneaks its way inside, I circle once or twice, pushing in only to my first joint, and moving slowly, with just the tip of my digit sheathed inside of her.

Rin surprises me by grinding down particularly hard, attempting to push my digit further inside her tight and tiny body. When my finger is encased within her to the second joint, she no longer grinds deeply, but simply rocks lightly back and forth, occasionally circling her slim hips, which have not yet begun to taken on the full curves of womanhood. A step or two shy from complete maturity, but far from the little girl who reached only my knee.

Watching her develop has been a great wonder, and I long for the day when I can make a mother of her; when I can see her breasts filled with milk and her hips wide and round, and her belly chubby with the weight of a woman who has given birth to offspring. She will be even more beautiful.

Rin is squirming above me – experimenting, I assume, with this new feeling, and what brings her the greatest pleasure. I watch her, fascinated and lust filled, and allow her to do as she pleases, to use my digit for her own satisfaction. "Ummmm…" She purrs and worries her lower lip a bit and scrunches her eyes shut, knitting her brows. "That feels good right _there _Sesshomaru-sama…" she speaks breathlessly, reiterating, "_Right there_."

I'm panting and flushed, hard and throbbing just from watching her ride my tightly encased digit and feel the wet heat that I will someday feel wrapped around my member, and I groan.

I curl my finger inward, pressing and rubbing against a rough raised spot within her, and she moans deeply in her throat, keens and whines and shakes and pants and her own hands slide up to cup and kneed her breasts and she tweaks her own small nipples.

The site is erotic beyond all belief, and I begin to curl my finger tip with in her, forward and back, over and over, massaging that spot harder and faster and loving to watch as her body rages out of control. "Sesshoumaru!" She calls my name and rocks in time and by-the-gods it's all I've ever wanted from intimacy… A female in the throws of pleasure from my touch, who _isn't _thinking of my title, my lands, and my power.

I know then that I have done something incredibly _right_ as more of her essence comes, _pours _from between her soft nether lips and her heart rate and breathing change. Rin leans back slightly, and back arches, and I watch her with hooded eyes and hyper-focused tension, noting her reactions to each minute movement of my non-clawed finger sheathed within her. "Ah! Ah! Ah!" Each press forward of my digit is met with a sharp exhale and a deep throaty cry from my precious girl.

This is something we have only recently begun – her achingly slow preparation for the day years from now, when Rin will receive me inside of her completely. As it is new, we are both still learning what it is that will bring her to climax most effectively, although we are enjoying the process of discovery. I notice her thighs begin to shake as my finger drags against that 'spot' over and over and begin to shallowly pump in and out; I use my thumb to stroke the bud I already know can bring her to climax.

She comes completely undone.

Shaking, and shivering, and panting, as she grinds her tiny hips and thrusts wildly into my touch. I feel her climax grip my finger in a series of contractions and a small self-satisfied smile curves my lips upwards. My hand at her bottom comes up and curls around her rib cage, holding her, preventing her from collapsing backwards.

Rin whispers my name as her climax finally recedes and her small chest heaves. Feeling her final inner spasms, I slowly remove my digit, bring my had to beneath my nose and deeply inhale before sucking the digit between my lips and sucking that delicious essence to clean my digit.

I pull my girl close to me once more, wrapping her up in a warm embrace and snuggling her against my chest, which is rumbling in approval. For a moment we are silent, and she catches her breath.

Her recovery is swift, and I feel her blunt fingernails scrape lightly on my skin as she curls her fingers inwards until her knuckles are grazing down my abdominals between our bodies.

I feel the now familiar sensation of a small warm hand encircling my rigid shaft and I can't help the shudder which passes through my frame as she grips me.

I can feel my foreskin slide over my member as her hand drags over my length, gently at first, and when her grip loosens and her palm slides over my leaking slit, making it sticky when she grips me once again, I can not help but to groan softly. "Kami, Rin…"

She smiles softly, with a teasing seductive twist to her lips and purrs my name again.

The pleasures of females were not something I indulged in with any regularity, before Rin came back to me.

There is a moment of awkward readjustment of our position when I feel her stop entirely and instead she whispers that she wants me to spread my legs.

My kimono falls from around her and she shivers, as she comes to her knees before me, and curls herself forward.

Somehow through the haze of anticipation I remember that she had complained of the cold, and I wrap mokomoko around her body, curled into a ball with her torso resting on her folded knees. It strikes me, at odd times like this, how much physically smaller Rin is than I am, despite the fact that she is maturing quickly, she'll always be my perfect little girl, no matter her age.

Rin seems to notice these differences between us much less than I do, or at least she doesn't pay them mind, and instead she leans forward and grips my length with both small hands while lowering her head over me.

Warm breath rushes over the head of my manhood and it takes every ounce of my iron-clad self-control to resist the urge to thrust upwards into the warm, wet heat that I know is waiting to envelop me.

Instead I twine my fingers in her long silky hair and gently cradle the side of her head. I must be careful not to force her down, as I am acutely aware that I could seriously injure her if I used even an ounce of my strength against her.

That Rin continuously places herself in such vulnerable positions in our intimate activities amazes me. _She trusts me._

It is a trust I refuse to abuse. I will not mistreat Rin. To take advantage of her would be not merely dishonorable, but deplorable.

Just as I think to restrain myself from movement, Rin dips her head and I feel her press that tight hot mouth around me. _I shudder._

These are the moments when I realize just how powerful this small human female can be… Because in these moments I am achingly and painfully… _Vulnerable _to her.

She dips her head and the groan of satisfaction can't be helped at feeling the long hard column of my arousal slip down her throat and into the warm tight depths beyond.

My claws move to dig into the earth and I feel myself pant. _"Rrrrrrrrriiin." _I growl her name into the night and she pops her head up, for just a moment granting me reprieve and smiles sweetly; but her dark eyes are mischievous.

Were her ears elfin I could mistake her for a nature spirit. Beautiful, ethereal, and with an air of something intangible that makes her seem forever beyond my reach… Even so close as we are now.

In that one fleeting moment when I feel she might be beyond what this One is meant for in this world – more than I deserve if I am honest. My clawed hand shoots out and tangles deep in her hair. I drag her face to mine and lock our lips, shoving my tongue into her mouth and devouring her. My long possessive tongue delves into her rich honeyed mouth and I take her breath away again… With a single kiss.

"You're mine…" I whisper when we part, panting with foreheads pressed together, "You're _mine._" _Don't ever leave me, _I add silently… _Not ever again… _

If she were ever to choose to return to the humans I would know not what to do… I cannot promise generosity twice, and selfishness would lead me to drag her home by any means necessary. _Home for this Sesshoumaru _is wherever Rin is, after all.

Rin smiles a smug smile and cups my jaw – for a moment running the pads of her thumbs along the lethal looking stripes which adorn my cheeks. "Sesshoumaru-sama is silly…" she laughs softly.

I wonder for a moment what she means?

Her hand travels to my rigid erection once more and suddenly when she grips me once again… I _understand. _

She is not _mine. _

It is _I _who am _hers._

It is I who come running whenever she calls and I who spend my life in service to her…

She is _mine, _alright…My inumochi; _Rin is my human master._

I suppose it makes sense… All of my kind originally had human masters. Inushikikami, that is. Centuries ago when my father broke free of his binds he never lost his will to serve and protect the humans.

I considered him weak for it.

He finally had his freedom as a full fledged Inuyoukai – _Amonojyaksha_ - And he squandered that freedom by continuing to serve.

Now I realize it is the fate of all Inuyoukai_: _To bind themselves to humans. _Dogs are Man's best friend. _

The only 'freedom' we have gained is _choice_ over which human we will serve.

I have chosen to serve Rin… Or rather, my instincts demand I serve her.

None of these realizations is particularly startling and nothing shows on my face as I nod and concede, "Perhaps."

Rin's face breaks out in a full on smile as she strokes me and dips her head once more. "I love you." She whispers before taking me into her mouth and my only response is a groan. Once more I'm under her unique spell.

When we're satisfied and she falls asleep in my arms, haloed by my own fur I watch her breathe and realize I am breathing with her.

I have so attuned my body to hers… I have so attuned each sense to her. I have so attuned my entire being to her needs.

The small bundle of a young human girl in my arms… The only thing I have in this world that means anything.

Do I regret it?

Do I 'miss' my bachelorhood and the lonely freedom which accompanied it?

No.

What I have found in being bound to the girl is far more _precious _than what I was seeking in power and being bound only to a sword.

I have found someone to serve, someone to protect, and someone to love.

Rin.


End file.
